Carlito Olivero

Carlos Emmanual "Carlito" Olivero (born July 16, 1989) is an American singer and actor from Chicago, Illinois who finished in 3rd place on season three of the X Factor USA. He was a part of the Boys catagory, mentored by Paulina Rubio.

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Background

Carlito, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican decent, first started singing at a young age after his parents bought a karoke machine. Beginnning in the first grade, he began competing in talent shows.

Menudo

In 2007, Carlito became a contestant on an MTV reality show called Making Menudo, hoping to become one of five young men who would get a chance to be a part of the popular Latin boy band Menudo. Carlito won himself a spot in the group.

After Menudo

Despite signing a deal with Epic Records and releasing a couple of singles, Menudo disbanded after two years. Carlito later moved to Los Angeles to continue his singing career as well as try acting. He got himself a role in a 2012 movie called We the Party and appeared in an episode of the TNT series Rizzoli & Isles.

Carlito was working at a coffee shop when he tried out for The X Factor.

The X Factor

Carlito tried out for the show in Los Angeles where he wowed the judges with his rendition of the Rihanna song "Stay", earning him four yeses. He made the top 40 and got Paulina Rubio as his mentor.

Four Chair Challenge

In this part of the competition, Carlito took on the song "Dreaming" by Tejano legend Selena, wowing not only his mentor Paulina Rubio but also the ladies in the audience. After making his case in both English and Spanish, Carlito made it to the live shows.

Live shows

For the first live show, Carlito took on a dance version of the Santana/The Product G&B song "Maria Maria". Demi Lovato admitted to being excited over his performance while Simon Cowell admitted that Carlito would be an artist that he would sign to his record label. The performance earned Carlito a spot in the top 12.

For Motown Night, Carlito sang a slowed-down version of "Stop! In The Name of Love" by the Supremes, which earned him mixed reviews from the judges. However, due to a graphics error that nullified the votes, he had to sing another song for the re-vote show. Despite being a bit under the weather, Carlito sang "If You're Not the One" by Daniel Bedingfield.

For '80s Night, Carlito sang the Gloria Estefan hit "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You". Despite blowing the crowd away with both his dances moves and his voice, his performance got him mostly mixed reviews. Despite Paulina Rubio loving it, the other judges weren't so positive. Simon Cowell, who called him "a dancer who sings", even warned Carlito that he needed to start taking more control of what he was doing on stage or else he was going to be going home.

For British Invasion night, Carlito took on the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", adding a bit of Latin flavor to it. The judges all agreed that the performance was an improvement over last week's performance. Simon Cowell even appreciated Carlito taking the criticism he had received and turning it into a positive. However, he ended up in the bottom 2 with Tim Olstad but made it to the next week.

For Big Band night, Carlito sang a mashup of two Ricky Martin songs, "The Cup of Life" and "Maria", which he dedicated to his parents. He sang both songs in English and Spanish. The performance earned him praise from the judges. He then went up against the other 7 acts in a face-off.

For Divas/Unplugged night, Carlito faced problems. First the song he planned to originally sing was changed at the last minute. He ended up singing "Let's Get Loud" by Jennifer Lopez, which earned him mixed reviews. HIs "unplugged" song, "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King, earned him better reviews especailly with the judges praising him for singing it in both English and Spanish. However, Carlito ended up in the bottom 2 again, this time against Rion Paige. However, he managed to make it to the next week.

For the semi finals, Carlito sang "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber, chosen for him by the public, and "I Need to Know" by Marc Anthony. To the shock of himself and many others, both performances earned him a spot in the finals where he went up against Alex & Sierra and Jeff Gutt.

For the finals, Carlito sang "Maria Maria" as well as "Impossible" by Shontelle, which he sung in both English and Spanish. He got to sing with rising Latin star Prince Royce on the song "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King.

Carlito finished in 3rd place on December 19, 2013.

Post X Factor

Carlito performed at the Chicago nightclub Volkan on February 14, 2014. He was even offered the chance to open for Kelly Rowland on her upcoming tour. He's also been busy working on new music. He later got to open for Mexican pop singer Gloria Trevi on her De Pelicula tour. His first single, "Pon Ya Body", was released on February 3, 2015. He also returned to acting with a role in the 2015 film Chocolate City and guest appearences on the shows Modern Family and Breaking Through.